The Polygon blockchain is emerging as a strong contender in the play-to-earn and gaming category after stalling throughout 2021 as it diversified away from DeFi dapps. Just a couple of months ago, Polygon was clearly established as a DeFi blockchain hosting several of the leading protocols. Two months later, the chain was surpassed by Solana, Terra, Avalanche, and Fantom in terms of TVL. However, the latest DappRadar BGA Game Report data shows interest in games, and play-to-earn opportunities hosted on Polygon is growing quickly.
The number of Unique Active Wallets (UAW) connected to Polygon games reached a daily average of 125,000 in October. That number represents an impressive 242% increase compared to the previous month, and a staggering 982% when compared to August. Whereas the number of DeFi associated transactions decreased 52% month over month, game transactions doubled compared to September.
The main driver behind this surge is Arc8, a mobile play-to-earn gaming platform launched by Gamee, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands. The launch of Arc8 came along with a liquidity program to mine GMEE, Arc8’s governance token. Boosted by the program, the platform managed to attract over 373,000 UAW in October. That’s easily the highest among Polygon-listed dapps.
While the success of Arc8 may be mainly attributed to the liquidity program, it is undeniable that Arc8 is taking on the mostly uncharted territory of mobile blockchain games. The liquidity program ended in October, coinciding with a massive drop in usage. Nonetheless, Arc8’s complete list of mini-games has been deployed since, so it’s worth watching whether Arc8 consolidated itself as a strong option in a less crowded mobile play-to-earn sector.
The Polygon ecosystem has welcomed a variety of new projects in recent months while existing products continue to grow. For example, the city-building game MegaCryptoPolis will soon become Mega World, a virtual world where players can walk around using their avatars. In addition, new projects like the strategy game Hexarchia, space exploration game Farsite, and GameFi product Cometh are all building their products on the Polygon blockchain. The rush of new blood into game dapps on Polygon has also stimulated the price of the Polygon token. In the last 30 days, it has increased over 43%, climbing to $1.83 at the time of writing.
Arc8 shows that with the right product, Polygon may become a platform for games and entertainment. Besides the mobile play-to-earn dapp, Polygon is already home to interesting game options like the GameFi dapp Aavegotchi, and the racing game Revv Racing. As well as supporting Somnium Space CUBE tokens to allow users of the popular virtual world to transact without high gas fees. Elsewhere, The Sandbox and the trading card game Doctor Who: Worlds Apart, have announced their integrations into the Polygon ecosystem. We’ll continue to closely monitor the state of the games on Polygon.
The above does not constitute investment advice. The information given here is purely for informational purposes only. Please exercise due diligence and do your research. The writer holds positions in ETH, BTC, ADA, MATIC, SAFEMOON, HEX, LINK, GRT, CRO, OMI, USDT, FLOW, ENS, AVASTR, BOSON, GMEE, SAND, MANA, AND OCEAN
